The Wrath of Spore
by Solar Eclipse23
Summary: In the future, Silver's world has been destroyed. In Sonic's present, Eggman's most powerful creation has developed a mind of its own. Aided by Metal Sonic and the mysterious Nazo, so begins a war for the Chaos Emeralds, and the fate of both worlds.
1. Prologue: A World In Pieces

**_The Future, exact location unknown:_**

_The world is destroyed. Ever since I was born, the people have been living in fear. We have been crushed, shattered, almost obliterated completely, by an army so vast we cannot hope to defeat it. An army of steel, blades, fire and death. At their head is the most powerful being in the known universe. He eradicated my planet with ease. He built himself an empire. He has expanded throughout the galaxy, taking worlds, destroying them, consuming them. He cannot be stopped, not any longer. He is too powerful._

_I resist him. Me and two others. We are the sole members of a pathetic excuse for a resistance on this planet, his home. An outdated robot designated Omega, a black hedgehog named Shadow, and myself. Silver the Hedgehog._

_We can never hope to do anything more than annoy the powerful force that dominates Earth. We attack him sometimes. We fight. Mostly, we lose._

_Sometimes we even win._

_But the cold truth of the matter is that we are nothing but a miniscule thorn in his metallic side. He can destroy us utterly any time he wants to, but he is amused by us. He never lifts a finger to kill us himself, but somehow we are still mercilessly beaten back by his army. Even with that biomechanical monster not engaged against us, we can never get close enough to touch him._

_We are the only ones who resist him. For a time, some people rebelled, rose against him and his empire. He annihilated them. No one resists anymore. No one except us._

_One rusted, blackened robot that will soon crumble into spare parts, one wounded, beaten hedgehog, and me._

_There is no hope in my world. Not anymore. But I – we – still fight. Because I still retain a sliver of my original hope: someday we will find a way to defeat him. Despite all the odds, we can still triumph._

_Shadow says I am delusional. He fights merely out of personal grievance with that metal monster, since it destroyed almost every one of his friends. I call them friends. He calls them accomplices, but he felt for them, we all know it. He fights to avenge them, not because he thinks we can save the world._

_Omega? Omega is a cold, detached robot. He hardly cares about the fate of humanity – in fact, some two hundred years ago, he despised most humans for their barbarity and foolishness. He fights out of an allegiance to Shadow, and because he too has been personally wounded by our enemy._

_Me? I fight for this planet and every other one that he has assimilated into his dark empire. I still think I can free them. Despite the scepticism and sometimes outright disdain of my companions, I still believe it._

_I can still save everyone from him. From that monstrous, terrible being that a brilliant but unwitting scientist created two hundred years ago. He had no idea what he was unleashing upon the universe, and he paid with his life for his mistakes. Two hundred years since his creation rose to power. Two hundred years he has ruled us. Him._

_Spore._

x x x x

Silver crouched quietly behind the crumbled remains of what used to be a building, and was now nothing more than a pile of rusted concrete. Not ten feet away, two Hunter robots were clanking around with their thunderous, metallic steps, searching for him. He peeked his head out from behind his meager blockade, and immediately withdrew it as a red search laser crossed over the scorched asphalt less than a meter from his face.

The two Hunters' robotic heads revolved slowly on their necks, their cold red eyes surveying the ruined street. Silver shut his eyes, sweat pouring down his brow. If they found him, he was finished. There was no way he could defeat two Hunters in his present state. He was hurt, bleeding, and exhausted. He barely had enough strength to levitate, forget fighting. Even at his peak strength, he still might not be able to defeat them. The Hunters were the most powerful unit in Spore's main infantry, apart from the Seven Destroyers he had created. Five of the Destroyers were off-world, but two were still present on Earth.

Less than fifty feet away, Shadow was crouched in the flaming wreckage of the remains of another building. The heat must have been unbearable, but the charred hedgehog barely flinched. His red eyes were trained on the two Hunters as they continued to scan the streets. Another hundred feet away, Silver could see the blackened, rusted bulk of Omega, stationary in the darkness of a ruined alley. He could tell at a glance that the robot had entered his sleep mode in order to prevent his systems from being detected by the Hunters.

_Speaking of which, why haven't they detected our vitals?_ Silver wondered, staring at the two fifteen-foot tall robots as they aimed their machine gun cannon arms around the street. _They should have found us by now..._

He glanced over at Shadow again, and then realized why they were still undiscovered. Shadow's remaining arm was glowing ever so slightly with a dark purple energy. He was using a minimal dose of Chaos energy to mask their presence, but not enough to be detected by the Hunter's sensitive scanners. Silver felt a rush of gratitude.

"_Signal lost. Biotics and non-biotic in Sector 7 assumed to have relocated. Conduct sweep of the area from altitude level .7 miles."_ A garbled, mechanical voice emitted from one of the Hunter's speech devices, and in the next second there was a powerful _whoosh_ as bright blue jets of flame burst from the jets embedded in their back. A cloud of dust, grit and exhaust fumes swarmed around the two Hunters in a cyclone as they slowly rose into the air, before turning and blasting upward at an alarming rate, disappearing over the high-rise of a leaning building.

Silver didn't move for five more minutes, as was protocol. Then, after counting down the extra 30 second waiting time, he looked over at Shadow, who made an imperceptible jerk of his head, towards the alley where Omega was. Silver nodded, and then darted out from his hiding place, flying as fast as he could toward the relative cover of the alley, a green psychokinetic aura around his white fur. He expected a hailstorm of bullets and missiles to come raining down upon him from above, but they didn't. The Hunters must be sweeping another area.

Shadow blurred past him in a flurry of speed and was inside the alley in seconds. He was much faster than Silver could ever hope to be, but Silver made up for it with his telekinetic strength.

As he reached the alley, Omega was emerging from sleep mode. His dark red eyes immediately scanned the streets for any sign of movement, and then his rusted joints squeaked as he straightened up. "Sector clear," Omega stated in a quiet monotone. Shadow nodded. "Then it's time for us to leave."

"But we haven't got what we came for," Silver protested. Shadow looked at him sharply. "You're so naive. We cannot hope to accomplish our mission in our present condition. The raid failed, that's all there is to it. We leave now."

Silver knew a dismissal when he heard one. He nodded silently, and the three darted further down the alley, taking a maze of turns and pathways as they attempted to get out of what used to be Westopolis, once upon a time.

Their mission had been to break into Spore's Nexus, which was what they called his main base of operations. It was the size of three cities put together, a vast factory where he produced his army of androids. He also kept the seven Chaos Emeralds somewhere inside. Silver wanted to steal the Emeralds, as they could possibly be the key to destroying Spore once and for all. Shadow and Omega had refused point-blank to mount an assault on the Nexus, stating it was suicide. Omega had been quite matter-of-fact. "The percentage of success of breaking into Spore's Nexus is approximately 12.37. Likelihood of even reaching the Nexus itself is 22.4 per cent. Likelihood of being shot down more than three miles away from the Nexus is 89.42 per cent." Shadow has been much less eloquent. "You want to break into that death trap as a three person army? Don't make me laugh." And that was that.

They had compromised by deciding to cause ruckus in the ruins of Westopolis, which was the closest Spore-controlled area to the Nexus. Silver had argued that by creating destruction, Spore would send his forces in after them to kill them once and for all, which he had. Silver had also however thought that this would leave the Nexus somewhat less protected. Which it wasn't.

As they neared the outskirts of Westopolis, Silver shook his head. Things were looking more hopeless by the minute. Spore had sent literally hundreds of robots to destroy them, and the defences of the Nexus hadn't been compromised in the slightest. _How can we possibly win?_ Silver thought desperately. _He has us by the throats._

The trio crossed a wrecked city road and began to turn and proceed east out of the area. Preoccupied with his thoughts, Silver didn't see a shadow flit at the edge of his vision. Suddenly, the asphalt in front of his feet exploded.

"Snipers!" Shadow yelled. "Take cover!"

x x x x

Shadow cursed under his breath as he swerved and ducked at the same time, his air shoes flaring as he went into a controlled circular spin. Bullets rained down from above, peppering the ground around him. He scanned the blown apart rooftops rapidly as he dodged left and right, avoiding the bullet storm. There! Several muzzle flashes from four... no five, rooftops. They were strategically placed so that they could cover the entire street.

No, not the entire street. There was a large crater from some sort of bomb in the middle of the road, and bits of ruined concrete might provide a good shelter...

At that second, Silver glowed green and the ruined pieces of concrete went sailing into the air, colliding with a loud _bang_ with one of the rooftops. There was a bright explosion as one of the robotic snipers incinerated.

_So much for that._

Shadow put on a burst of speed and ran straight at the wall of one building that was being used by a sniper. A bullet clipped his side and it felt like a red hot poker had been driven into his fur. Snarling in rage, Shadow leaped and ran straight up the building, before somersaulting into the air at the top and slamming feet first into the lanky, metallic sniper robot, which did not bring up its handheld gun in time.

He kicked the Scout's head clean off, and the headless body fell from the rooftop and landed with a metallic _crunch_ below. Wasting no time, Shadow snatched up the Scout's sniper rifle and propped it against the roof, placing his eye at the scope and using his remaining arm to grab the trigger. Another bullet seared past his head, grazing his left ear, and he cursed. He swivelled the gun to the rooftop the shot had originated from, and took the Scout's head off with one shot.

He aimed at the next rooftop and fired. Another Scout down. From the street level, he saw Silver go flying past, hurling bits of broken rock and concrete at a group of grey, five-foot tall robots that had appeared from nowhere. Shadow groaned inwardly.

_Great. Shock Troops._

The Shock Troops were Spore's main unit of infantry. But they were still quite powerful. Shadow aimed quickly, destroying the remaining two Scout snipers, before turning to direct his fire at the Shock Troops.

However, it was at that moment that he heard a _whoosh_ of air and a loud thump as something huge and heavy landed behind him.

x x x x

Silver flew left, aiming his gloved hand at one of the Shock Troopers, before wrenching it left and causing it to collide with its partner in a large explosion of parts. Another grey mech shouldered the broken pair aside, aiming its arm cannon directly at Silver and firing three blue pulse blasts.

Silver dodged to the side, avoiding two of the shots, but the third one hit him right in the chest. Pain ripped through him as blue electric energy crackled all over his body. Silver screamed in pain as the force of the shot sent him flying right into a building wall, where he smashed right through it and landed in a pile of broken rock.

Through his pain, Silver summoned a inner reserve of energy and uses his psychokinesis to blast the rubble in every direction. Some of it smashed into the Shock Troops, obliterating them. He took a step forward, eager to resume the fight, when his foot shook and he fell to his hands and knees. Pain was making him dizzy, and weak. He couldn't keep fighting much longer.

Dimly, he saw Omega retract his silver hands from the innards of an Shock Troop, before replacing them with two huge cannons. He then exploded with a gigantic purple laser beam that ripped from his hands and scorched the remaining Shock Troops into oblivion.

"Nice shot," Silver called weakly.

"Affirmative," Omega replied.

_Maybe we really can get out of this one,_ Silver thought, seconds before a loud cry of pain originated from the rooftops, and a seared, burning Shadow was blasted from a rooftop, landing on the pavement before him in an unmoving heap.

x x x x

Shadow screamed as the Hunter shot a ball of flame from its arm cannon, hitting him directly in the chest. Flames blossomed all over his body as the force of impact of the fireball sent him flying off the roof and into the cold, unforgiving stone of the street.

Shadow groaned in pain as he staggered to his feet, while the Hunter leaped from the roof and landed with a powerful smash before him. Patches of his fur were burned away, revealing shiny, burnt skin underneath. His left ear was missing. His arm felt as though he had dipped it into molten lava.

They couldn't win this fight.

"Omega!" he roared, looking around for the rusted red robot. "Distraction!"

"Affirmative," came the flat reply, and a split second later a barrage of missiles went flying erratically from across the street. The Hunter staggered backward as the missiles exploded across its gleaming silver chest.

"Silver!" he called. "We're leaving, _now_!"

"Okay," the white hedgehog replied in a weak tone, staggering to his feet. Shadow could see at a glance that he no longer had the energy to even fly. He had to get them out of here, now.

The Hunter had leaped full force at Omega, who had now converted his hands to machine guns and was sending a cascade of bullets rippling across the Hunter's chest. It barely flinched, but instead struck him heavily with its gigantic fist. Omega went flying, smashing right through a building and landing close to Shadow. He heard a groan as the robot shut down.

"Silver, grab my hand!" Shadow roared. The tired, aching hedgehog did so without argument. Shadow then leaped as high as he could, bouncing off the Hunter's shoulder and using it to propel himself over to Omega's side. The Hunter swivelled its huge arm cannon toward them just as Shadow placed his foot on Omega's sparking chest.

"CHAOS CONTROL!"

A brilliant beam of flame erupted from the Hunter's arm, and white light surrounded them. Then, literally a foot from his face, the flames froze in place. There was a _pop_, and then they were gone.


	2. Hopelessness

_**200 Years Earlier**_

High above the clouds, at an altitude breaching the threshold of where sky turned to space, a hulking, streamlined airship floated like a thunderhead. Coloured red and black, like a darkened mixture of shadows and blood, the massive airship cleaved through the sky with its jagged bow, as tendrils of cloud vapour blazed past on its sides.

Deep within the airship, in a brightly lit workshop littered with gadgets and technological rubble, a large, strangely proportioned man was hunched over a workbench, muttering furiously under his breath. His latest project lay inert on the table before him, surrounded by a pile of broken parts and gleaming, jagged screws and bolts. The room was full of activity and noise; all around the egg-shaped man, small utility droids floundered and bustled about, their multi-purpose arms whirling over the robotic shape on the workbench. Sparks swirled in the air like dust as drills and blowtorches roved over every inch of the unmoving shape, courtesy of the droids. Meanwhile, the strange man was rolling around the workbench on a wheeled chair, his fingers flying so fast they were simply blurs. Sweat poured down his brow and accumulated over his protective goggles as he soldered, twisted wires and joints, activated buttons and levers.

"Almost..." he grunted, eyes wide and staring at his creation, which was beginning to take shape before his eyes. "Almost..."

x x x x

"How much farther, Tails?" Sonic called from the back seat of the _Tornado III_, his legs dangling over the edge as wind whipped around them.

"Not long now," was the fox's reply.

Sonic sighed and hunkered down in his seat, his feet tapping an impatient beat against the dark blue paint of biplane. "Not long now" had been the constant refrain he had been hearing for the past week, as they soared over the Atlantic and across cities, following the signal of the Chaos Emerald.

Sonic glanced up into the cockpit, where Tails was sitting upright, his gloved hands wrapped around the plane controls comfortably. Blue tinted goggles rested atop his head. Despite the fruitlessness of their search so far, despite the long, arduous hours they had spent in the tiny cramped plane following the blip on their radar, Tails had yet to complain.

From the back seat, Sonic shook his head in silent astonishment, his quills waving in the breeze. He could not comprehend how Tails was not bored out of his mind at this mundane flying. But to his best friend, flying was a way of life, much like running was to Sonic.

_Guess I can't really say anything, then,_ Sonic thought, looking once more at the Chaos Radar, which was at the moment secured in the _Tornado III's_ control panel. A bright green grid was visible on the radar screen, showing a pulsing red dot some point to their northeast.

"Sonic, I think the Emerald is somewhere in Capitol City," Tails said, peering at the radar as the _Tornado III_ whipped through the clouds. "We'll probably arrive in about four hours."

_Four hours?_ Sonic sighed inwardly. "Can't wait," he yawned, and he settled back into the seat again...

x x x x

_**The Future, exact location unknown:**_

They appeared in a flash of bright blue light in the ruined industrial district of a town far away from Westopolis. As soon as the glow of Chaos Control faded, Omega slumped sideways and collapsed on the ruined asphalt at their feet, his body limp and unmoving. Shadow let him fall. He was too busy supporting Silver with his one remaining arm and trying to fight off a wave of nausea and exhaustion that was steadily flooding his body.

Before them stood the crumbling remnants of a huge, monolithic factory. The building was blackened with the dirt and industrial grime of centuries, as well as the pockmarked scorches that resulted from numerous artillery strikes. They had come across it years ago and decided to use it as a hideout from Spore's army. The entire surrounding area was deserted. It had once been Future City, one of the first to fall to Spore's onslaught. What little citizens survived the first firestorm led by Spore and his Destroyers had evacuated the city. Now, it remained empty and silent, apart from sporadic raids by Spore's infantry.

Silver gave a low grunt and sagged lower, half-leaning on Shadow as his feet gave out. Shadow winced as the white hedgehog brushed against his burn wounds. "Silver, get up," he muttered. "We have to get inside."

No response.

"Silver?"

He had fainted. Shadow sighed and hoisted the young hedgehog over his shoulder, grimacing as his charred muscles strained with the effort. He took a deep breath and staggered forward, hauling his unconscious acquaintance forward and into the darkness and relative seclusion of the empty factory, leaving Omega inert and powered down on the broken ground.

It took Shadow almost twenty minutes to carry Silver to the topmost floor of the factory, which was where they had established a makeshift living area. He didn't dare attempt another Chaos Control. He was too exhausted from their skirmish in Westopolis and if he tried again he could end up teleporting them halfway across the continent.

On the top floor of the factory, Shadow emerged from a darkened stairwell and kicked a door open leading to a large, mostly empty room. Small, jagged holes adorned the ceilings, indicating where shells had fallen and bits of flaming rubble had rained upon the city. He had cleared out most of the broken machinery that had littered the room a long time ago, leaving only what was necessary. He had managed to salvage sleeping material from other houses, a table and chairs, and even a working healing capsule that he had stumbled across by pure luck when he had been searching an abandoned hospital.

Shadow moved forward and deposited Silver inside the healing capsule, grunting as the dead weight was lifted from his shoulders. He propped the unconscious hedgehog up against the padded seat of the pod and secured an oxygen mask over his face before shuffling over to the capsule's control panel by the wall. He had managed to rig a distant power plant to send electricity to this block of the city only, hoping that Spore had dismissed the area as abandoned and would not bother investigating it. So far his gamble had paid off.

He powered up the healing capsule, gritting his teeth at the loud, humming start-up noise. He knew it would fade after a couple minutes, but it always made him nervous.

He watched as the pod slowly began to fill with a bright, deep green liquid. It swelled over Silver's body as it rose within the tube, causing the hedgehog's white quills to dance slowly within the liquid as though it were wind.

A red light appeared on top of the capsule, indicating use. Shadow sighed and brushed at his forehead with his one remaining hand, wiping a trickle of blood out of his eye. He accidentally brushed against the gaping wound where his ear used to be and he bit back a curse.

_I need to go get Omega,_ he thought, but he did not move. He was simply too spent to bring himself to wander back downstairs and haul the heavy robot to the top floor.

Grunting, Shadow sat heavily on the rusted, harsh floor, crossing his legs with difficulty and grimacing against the pain. He closed his eyes. It would be some time before Silver awoke, and until then he would meditate. It would help him get his strength back, and when he regained some energy, he would go down and retrieve the deactivated Omega. If Spore's patrols decided to raid the ruins of Future City, they were hardly better off inside than out. But at the time being, concrete walls and steel doors, however rusted, made him feel somewhat safer. And at the moment, that was all that mattered.

x x x x

Green. Everything was green.

Silver opened his eyes and a rush of emerald assailed his vision, filling it utterly. He was wet. Was he underwater? But he could breathe. He moved his hand in front of his face, squinting through the bright light. He could barely make out the whiteness of his gloves before him.

_What happened?_ Silver thought, but the instant he did, everything came rushing back to him. The siege on Westopolis, the assault by Spore's mechs, the final attack by the Hunter...

_How did we escape?_ Silver wondered as he tried to move his arms. They slid through the surrounding green sluggishly, as though his brain were sending the signals to his arms much slower than normal. _Shadow must have used Chaos Control to teleport us away._

With a surge of clarity he realized he felt no pain, and his limbs felt reenergized with newfound power. _I must be in the healing capsule. _Silver blinked and felt around in the green liquid, feeling for the edge of the pod. His hands brushed over the control panel and he prodded the buttons with his fingers.

With a loud whooshing noise, the liquid began to siphon out of the capsule through a series of vents. As it drained past his face, Silver reached up to his mouth and detached the oxygen tube, breathing deeply. He looked out through the now clear capsule window and saw Shadow sitting on the floor some distance away in the lotus position, meditating. His eyes were closed.

The liquid finished draining. Silver pushed the capsule door open with a loud rush of air, stepping out into the burnt out factory that was their home, shivering slightly in the cold air as water dripped from his quills onto the ground.

Shadow opened one eye to glance at him briefly before closing it again. He said nothing, but that was not new. Generally, it was Silver that started all conversations that occurred between them.

"How long was I out?" he asked now. Shadow kept his eyes closed. "Four hours."

"Where's Omega? Is he all right?"

"He's fine. He's charging at the terminal."

Silver looked over at the massive CPU Shadow had rigged into the factory wiring. Omega was standing upright next to it, his optics cold and dark as he recharged. His entire bulk was even more scratched and rusted after their last battle. He no longer looked scarlet, but the colour of rusted iron, or dried blood.

"I can't believe we made it out of that one," Silver mumbled, looking around the room. A large assortment of windows dominated one entire wall of the factory room. Most of them were broken, with shards of glass sticking in the rusted shingles like broken teeth.

Outside, the dead city was motionless in the late afternoon. The sky was grey and forbidding, covered with dark thunderheads as though it would storm later.

Silver looked at his mentor, who was still meditating on the cold stone floor. "Shadow?"

"What?" His tone was none too encouraging.

"Well... what do you suppose we do now?"

Shadow slowly opened his eyes and gazed at Silver, who flinched slightly but maintained eye contact. It was always difficult looking in those orbs of fire for too long.

"We tried to lure Spore's forces out into Westopolis," Shadow said quietly. "We did that because we wanted the Nexus's security to be compromised. Isn't that right?"

Silver felt a sinking feeling in his stomach, but he did not ignore the question. "Yes."

"Spore sent over three hundred androids to attack us. Was the Nexus left even remotely unprotected?"

"No."

"No," Shadow agreed from his position on the floor. In the dim grey light of the room, the patches of burnt skin that adorned his black fur seemed to glare harshly at him. "Silver, we are the sole remainder of any kind of resistance on this planet. You, me, and Omega. There are three of us."

"We can still –"

"No," Shadow interrupted. "Listen to me. Three of us. Against billions. Shock Troops, Scouts, Marauders, Hunters, the seven Destroyers, and Spore himself."

Silver was silent, struggling with the unease and despair warring within himself. He ached to speak, to argue, to attempt to persuade Shadow, but he could think of nothing to say.

"We fought, Silver," Shadow continued wearily. "We fought long and hard, for years. But we can't win this fight. Spore is simply too powerful. We can never win."

"But we have to try!" Silver burst out. "We're all that's left! It's up to us to save everyone!"

"Haven't you been listening?" Shadow snapped. "We are powerless. We cannot hope to bring about the collapse of Spore's empire, any more that a single gnat can hope to kill a grown man. We have lost, Silver. This is the cold, simple truth of it – it's over."

Silver shook his head bitterly. "I should have known you'd say that. Righteous, all knowing Shadow. No wonder you weren't able to save anything all those years ago. You just give up."

Silver's words nettled him, but Shadow kept his voice even. "I have only your best interests at heart. I'm trying to protect you, to keep you alive."

"If this is the cost, I don't want your protection," Silver snapped. He turned away and began to stalk off. "No wonder the world viewed Sonic as greater than you. I'm just glad he isn't here to see what his so called _equal_ has become."

Shadow's dark eyebrows contracted.

Silver had not taken three steps before an invisible yet immense wave of energy sent him hurtling across the room. He slammed into the stone floor, skidding along it in a pile of broken machinery, until he slammed into the wall, groaning. Dust rained down on his head from the ceiling rafters.

He gazed across the room at Shadow, who was standing and had his arm extended, waves of fury radiating from his body. He looked enraged.

"Silver," he said in a biting tone, "I have lived more than two centuries. I have seen more death, destruction, and loss than you will see in the span of all your years. When I found you in those ruins, I could have left you there. God knows I didn't need another mouth to feed, or some kid dragging me and Omega down. I didn't need someone else to watch over, to keep from danger's path. But I took you in, because I saw something in you, some fire I didn't want extinguished. You have hope. Omega and I have none – we have seen too much. But you – you still retain optimism, even if it borders on naivety. I would not like to see that come to an end, so I will put your safety above that of this dead civilization. Even if you decide to despise me for it, I will seek to preserve your life until mine comes to an end."

He turned away and moved over next to Omega, seating himself without a sound. He closed his eyes once more.

Silver felt a wave of shame and guilt rise in his throat until it threatened to choke him. In his anger and blind rage, he has spoken only wanting to wound. And he had just offended one of the only two people in the universe that had considered him a friend.

"Shadow," he mumbled, walking up behind the black hedgehog.

Shadow said nothing.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it."

Silence. Then: "I know."

Quiet fell down upon them. Silver watched the shadows on the wall; Shadow sat motionless on the floor, and Omega stood deactivated next to them.

"I just don't want to live like this anymore," Silver said at length, when the silence became too much to bear. Shadow nodded jadedly. "Understandable."

More minutes passed wordlessly, as the wind whispered forlornly through the dead city, brushing against the one inhabited building for miles. Outside, the clouds rolled and swelled, covering the city with darkness.

"Shadow?" Silver said after some time.

"What?"

"How did..." Silver licked his lips nervously and avoided looking at his mentor. "What happened to Sonic and all the others?"

There was absolute silence, apart from the faint sound of the wind. Silver waited on tenterhooks for an explosion he was sure would come. Shadow had never spoken of the fall of Sonic and his other companions. Not once.

Shadow remained silent for so long that Silver assumed he would never respond. Then, his voice said heavily: "why do you want to know?"

"I'm not sure," Silver said quietly, fidgeting. He wished he had never asked such a personal question. "I just... I wanted to hear what happened. What everything was like before. Before Spore."

Shadow turned to face him, eyes taking in every bit of Silver, scorching him thoroughly with their intensity. Silver said nothing else, but instead waited, knowing that Shadow would not speak unless he chose to.

With a loud, heavy sigh, Shadow stood up and brushed dust from his legs. "Very well. It's been too long since I've spoken of this, anyways." He stepped over to Omega and the vast CPU he was recharging at. "I've done them all an injustice by attempting to forget their sacrifice."

Silver didn't know what to say to that, so he said nothing.

"Here," Shadow said, and he brushed his fingers across Omega's rusted head. He hit something Silver could not see, and with a loud snap, a panel at Omega's temple opened up. Inside was a tiny disk slot.

As Silver watched, a slim chrome disk was fed out of the slot and into Shadow's waiting hands. He took the disk and slipped it into the computer mainframe. With a loud whirr, the computer began to boot up. Lights danced across the vast monitor as Shadow's fingers slid across the dusted keys.

"I'm using Omega's memory to show you what he saw all those years ago," Shadow said as way of explanation. "You'll be able to see what really happened. How things fell to pieces." As his fingers roved across the keyboard, images flickered to life on the screen. They vanished and changed too quickly for Silver to follow them.

Finally, words burst into form on the computer monitor.

_DATA FILE C-44_

_Open Record View (2:52:56 L)._

_Via Optics_

_VIEW? Y/N_

Shadow hit the Y option. The screen turned black for a split second, and then, almost as though playing a movie, scenes began to unfold.

The sky was blue and cloudless. Shadow stood in a vast meadow plain, staring out across the fields, holding a gleaming red Chaos Emerald in his hands. Silver gasped involuntarily – Shadow looked so much _different_ than he did now. He was not adorned with a tapestry of scars and bruises. His left arm was still attached to his body, and both ears were there. But mostly it was his posture – he appeared relaxed, or as relaxed as Silver had ever seen him. He was not fraught with tension, hunched over as though expecting gunfire to pour down upon him from above at any moment. He looked whole.

The Shadow in the video turned and glanced at a figure on his right. It was a white bat, dressed in a tight form-fitting body suit.

"Rouge," the real Shadow said, motioning with his head towards the view screen. His voice was wistful. "One of my few companions. She was like a sister to me."

Shadow hit a few keys and the screen flickered. The scene changed. This time, Omega was looking down from a massive skyscraper upon a sprawling, colourful metropolis that spanned miles across. Above it, in the sky, a huge shape had drifted in front of the sun, casting deep shadows upon the city. It was a battleship. Around it, tons of smaller airships drifted about like a cloud of insects, descending in waves upon the city.

"The First Siege," Shadow said from beside him, staring distastefully at the scene before his eyes. "Eggman was trying to take over the United Federation Headquarters with his army. He had just created Spore."

The scene dissolved and shifted. GUN fighter jets and Eggman's ships flew in circles in the air over the city, firing lasers and missiles to and fro at each other, setting the sky alight. Explosions blossomed in the afternoon sky like deadly flowers. As Silver watched, a metal compartment at the bottom of the huge battleship slid open and scores of small, dark shapes fell out.

The scene changed again. Now, Silver saw a huge, strangely proportioned man in a floating pod hovering above a huge, official looking building, pointing and talking rapidly. On the rooftop, next to him, stood the bane of Silver's existence.

This 200-year old version of Spore looked identical to his present day appearance. His appearance was based on that of a hedgehog, but appeared much more streamlined and lethal. His entire body was made of chrome steel, though the metal of his lower half, arms and chest were coloured with a dark violet hue. A large ivory chest plate covered his upper body and shoulders, and two gleaming silver cuffs were wrapped around his wrists, each with a dark blue jewel in their centre. Long, deadly blades curved from the cuffs, glinting in the sunlight.

However, the most frightening feature of the metallic beast was his own visage. He had no visible mouth to speak of, simply a gleaming white faceplate. Two glaring crimson eyes shone like coals from above the plate. Rather than quills, the biomechanical android sported four horns atop his head that spread out into a crown, with another large blue stone atop his head.

The Spore of the past suddenly leaped off the rooftop, the jets embedded in his back allowing him to make a quick, controlled descent to the ground. At Spore's movement, every Egg-shaped robot present began to open fire on the massive wave of government troops below.

"Eggman's forces slaughtered the GUN troops effortlessly," Shadow said, staring at the carnage on the screen as bullets and energy blasts flew in every direction. Two bulky, gleaming red arms appeared at the bottom of the screen and began pumping lasers into the crowd – Omega's contribution to the fight. On the camera's immediate right, Shadow burst into the battle surrounded by a blazing white aura of Chaos energy, his hands glowing yellow as he hurled Chaos Spears into the mob of robots, several of which exploded into flaming rubble. On Shadow's left, the bat named Rouge pumped her wings and flew over the battle, decimating several Egg robots with axe kicks and acrobatic footwork.

Silver gaped at the screen, wide-eyed. The battle was quick, brutal, and efficient. Even after only a few minutes, Silver could see that the battle was lost. Most of the GUN troops were injured or dead, and only a handful were still fighting against the robots. However, several other fighters distinctly stood out in the battle. One was a bright red echidna, obliterating any mech that happened to wander within a few feet of him. His body was surrounded by a bright red aura. Another was a bright orange, two-tailed kitsune, which was seated in the cockpit of a strange walker mech, much like a smaller version of a Hunter robot, scorching lasers into the air. Spore was directly in the heart of the battle, his trademark black organic tentacles bursting from openings in his armour, absorbing the energy and life force of all those he touched. Silver watched, horrified, as a bright blue blur exploded out of the battle and launched itself directly at Spore.

"Is that...?" he whispered.

"Sonic," Shadow said quietly. "Sonic the Hedgehog."

Silver watched in growing apprehension as Sonic bounded effortlessly off the surrounding robots, destroying them as he flew into them feet first, before leaping at Spore. However, the android turned and jettisoned a long black tentacle directly from the centre of his palm, which impaled the blue hedgehog directly through the heart. Silver saw his eyes widen in pain and shock, right before Spore raised his other hand and fired a massive energy wave from his palm, obliterating the hedgehog in a bright flare of blue light.

"We've seen enough," Shadow said sharply, hitting several keys, and the image on the screen faded to black. The black hedgehog looked as though he had aged a lifetime, staring with dark eyes at the screen before him. Silver could feel the pain radiating from him in waves.

"Is that..."

"Yes, that was how it started," Shadow said heavily, turning away from the screen and plodding over to the healing capsule. "Sonic was the first to die, challenging Spore. His death rocked the entire team of resistance fighters. We didn't know it then, but Eggman had ordered Spore to capture us, not kill us. It appears that as soon as Spore realized his true potential, he betrayed Eggman on the spot."

"So Eggman didn't order Spore to kill Sonic?"

"I don't believe so. Eggman wanted us alive, we know that much. He had shown humanity at times before. That's why, at first, we were unable to grasp the scope of his supposed brutality." Shadow leaned against the pod, looking as worn and beaten as ever. "Tails – the fox in the walker machine you saw – was the next to go. He lost it when Sonic died. Sonic had been his hero, and his best friend. He charged Spore without thinking, trying to avenge Sonic's death. Spore killed him as well."

Silver was silent, thoughts whirling. All those lives...

"It was a losing battle from there on out. The GUN forces were decimated, and we had to fall into retreat. I managed to grab Rouge and Chaos Control out of there. I had lost track of Omega in the battle, but when I found him later, he told me he had managed to escape by retreating into a sewer system. The red echidna you saw, Knuckles... he was in charge of protecting a very powerful and valuable gem, the Master Emerald. He knew Spore would come for it eventually, due to its infinite capacity for Chaos energy. He went back to the Emerald's resting place, Angel Island. Rouge, even though I tried to convince her otherwise, went to go help him."

Silver turned to look at Shadow. His mentor's eyes were dark and clouded. "In the following day, it became apparent that Spore had betrayed Eggman. He captured the doctor and seized all his assets – his air fleet, his navy, and all his infantry, as well as his numerous bases of operations. He sent a live broadcast to national television and killed Eggman before the eyes of the entire country."

Silver was astonished. What terrible creation would betray its master that way?

Shadow seemed to guess exactly what he was thinking. "Eggman made Spore to be the best of the best – the greatest of all his creations. He made Spore too smart, too strong. Too brutal. His so called genius cost him his life, and the loss of the entire world." Shadow began heading back toward the healing capsule, his authoritative gait offset by a slight limp.

"Spore began taking control of the entire planet. His army moved into cities, killing all opposition and rounding people into camps. The Chaotix Detective Agency – a group of misfits that were friends of Knuckles – tried to stop Spore's takeover. They were decent fighters, but not nearly good enough. They were all killed by Spore's troops, except for one – a chameleon named Espio. He managed to escape the carnage, badly wounded, and went into hiding. I came across him when I was searching the ruins of Capitol City for survivors."

"Espio..." Silver muttered. The name was unfamiliar to him, but he felt a powerful respect for the faceless chameleon all the same. He was another hero who had fallen to the onslaught of the unstoppable Spore.

"I managed to heal him, and told him to stay in hiding. He took my advice, which is why he lived as long as he did. He battled Spore when he could, but he was always a lone wolf, and he didn't stick with Omega and I." Shadow shook his head slightly. "Espio moved from city to city, doing what he could to protect what remained of the populace, while at the same time keeping under the radar. For thirteen years Spore couldn't catch him, but there were near misses, and a lot of them. Finally, Spore got fed up and left the Nexus himself to find Espio. He caught up to him near the remnants of what used to be Central City. Espio tried to run, and he managed to escape Spore's forces in the city by taking the old Route 280 skyway bridge out of the city. Spore killed him on that long highway, and threw his body into the ocean."

"What happened to Rouge?" Silver asked, almost afraid to know. Shadow's eyes grew dark, and he shrugged one shoulder. "Spore searched the earth for all the Chaos Emeralds, taking them back to the Nexus when he found them. However, he feared the power of the Master Emerald, so he went out to destroy it himself. He brought a legion of Shock Troops with him, and stormed Angel Island.

"Rouge and Knuckles were the only survivors left, apart from Omega, Espio and I. Omega was still unaccounted for, Espio was in exile, and I was wounded from a previous skirmish outside Station Square." Shadow shook his head. "By the time I got there it was already too late. From what I saw, they put up one hell of a fight. Rouge was killed first, I believe, based on the evidence. Knuckles lost it then, and he obliterated every last Shock Troop on the island." Silver was astounded by such a display of brute power. He, Shadow and Omega had enough difficulty fighting off squadrons of Shock Troops, forget legions.

"I think Spore then realized that Knuckles was too powerful, and could have used the Master Emerald to draw power away from the Chaos Emeralds," Shadow mused. "Whatever the case, Spore fought Knuckles himself. I don't know what happened, but Knuckles was no match for him. I found his body on the steps of the Emerald Altar, surrounded by fragments of the Master Emerald. Spore, knowing he could never use it, had shattered it, sending its fragments to all corners of the world.

"And since that day, he has ruled us."

Shadow's gravelly voice faded off as his tale ended. Silver was seething with rage at the injustice, and hopelessness. How could he ever hope to win? But he had to keep trying. It was his destiny.

"I need to heal," Shadow muttered quietly, stepping inside the pod and nestling his burnt, broken body against the seat. "Watch over things while I'm out."

"Okay," Silver nodded, his thoughts still whirling. Shadow glanced at him, and he seemed on the verge of saying something, but he turned away. The black hedgehog closed his eyes as the green healing fluid crept over him, suspending him in the capsule.

Outside, the thunderheads above the burnt-out city swelled, and seemed to burst. As Silver watched, a droplet of rain fell from the sky and hit a grimy fragment of windowpane before him. Two seconds later, rain was pouring down in torrents, soaking the remnants of the city and washing its history away into the cracked, empty gutters.

Silver watched the barrenness before him and clenched his right fist angrily. _I swear_, he vowed, _even if it takes my life, I will have revenge for everything you've done, Spore. I won't stop fighting until I'm dead or this world is saved. And I know I'll find a way to put it right..._

_In time._


End file.
